Austin Events for the Literati – August

Each month I’ll be investigating events around town that might pique the interest of the book nerds, the literature obsessed, and those who enjoy stimulating entertainment and/or socializing. Not surprisingly, Austin has a number of things going on every month the Book People community would enjoy.

The Dionysium Summer Show: Habit

Alamo Drafthouse Village

Wednesday, August 2nd @ 7pm

The time has come once again for the seasonal Dionysium show! The summer show is about Habit.

The Dionysium offers a unique, innovative program of debate, lecture, declamation, theatrical presentation and music in a salon-like atmosphere. Audiences enjoy offerings not to be found elsewhere in Austin, including the recitation of famous speeches, participatory discussion in a formal, moderated context, and the opportunity to participate in the recreation of ancient rituals.

A typical Dionysium show will feature a lecture, a declamation, a drinking song, a film or live musical performance, an appeal to Dionysus, a fiction-writing contest, and plenty of strong drink. But the heart of every Dionysium is the debate.

The Dionysium debate pits two experts against each other in toe-to-toe parliamentary combat. Dionysium debate resolutions have covered everything from Social Security reform to the future threat of genocidal robots. An audience interrogatory segment allows guests to personally challenge our debaters, and every resolution is adopted, or defeated, by an audience vote.

ArmadilloCon 39

August 4th – 6th

Omni Hotel – Southpark

THE Austin convention for readers and writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy, ArmadilloCon returns for its 39th year. Check out their website for information about guests, artists, and writing workshops!

Building the Wall

Written by Robert Schenkkan, Directed by Brant Pope

Texas Performing Arts – University of Texas, Austin

From Pulitzer Prize and Tony® Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (All the Way, The Kentucky Cycle, Hacksaw Ridge), comes the incendiary political thriller that is captivating audiences across the country.

Written in “a white heat” fury following the November 2016 election, Schenkkan’s Building the Wall imagines a dystopia impacted by President Trump’s border and immigration policies. It’s the near future and millions of undocumented immigrants have been detained in overflowing prisons. Now, a writer interrogates the director of a private prison as he awaits sentencing for carrying out the federal policy that has escalated into the unimaginable. This riveting and illuminating drama delivers a powerful warning and puts a human face on the inhuman, revealing how, when personal accountability is denied, what seems inconceivable becomes inevitable.

The regional premiere, directed by Brant Pope, showcases a professional cast, including Franchelle Stewart Dorn as “Gloria” and David Sitler as “Rick.”

The running time for Building the Wall is approximately 90 minutes. There is no intermission.

The Beguiled (2017 – 1st run) – The latest from Sophia Coppola (who won Best Director at Cannes for this film, making her only the 2nd female director to win the award). Currently playing at Alamo South Lamar.

Austin Events for the Literati is researched, curated, and written by former BookPeople bookseller Sarah Holdgrafer. It’s purpose is to make it easier to discover events that would interest people in the literary scene, or just people that read the BookPeople blog, here in ATX. It is by no means comprehensive!

So, if you are hosting, or just know about, a literary themed event here in Austin in the upcoming months, email sarah.holdgrafer (at) gmail dot com and let her know about it (hopefully with at least a few weeks advance warning)! The Austin Events for the Literati blog post goes up by the 1st of every month.

NOTE: These events are not produced by or affiliated with BookPeople. We just think they are great, that you’ll like them too, and hope to see you there! For official BookPeople events, please see the BookPeople Events Calendar!